Germany announces plan to ID recovered art

Published 6:05 pm, Monday, November 11, 2013

"Dame in der Loge" by Otto Dix is among the 1,400 artworks seized last year in a Munich apartment. About 590 pieces could have been stolen by the Nazis, the government said.

"Dame in der Loge" by Otto Dix is among the 1,400 artworks seized last year in a Munich apartment. About 590 pieces could have been stolen by the Nazis, the government said.

Photo: Associated Press

Germany announces plan to ID recovered art

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Berlin -- - Bowing to pressure from Jewish groups and art experts, the German government released details of paintings in a recovered trove of some 1,400 pieces of art, many of which may have been stolen by the Nazis, and said it would put together a task force to speed identification.

The German government said in a written statement that about 590 of the pieces could have been stolen by the Nazis. In a surprise move, it quickly featured some 25 of those works on the website www.lostart.de and said it would be regularly updated.

Officials had so far released few details about the art found in the Munich apartment of 80-year-old Cornelius Gurlitt, though it was known to include pieces by Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. The discovery resulted from an ongoing tax probe, adding to secrecy concerns.

Looted art was stolen or bought for a pittance from Jewish collectors who were forced to sell under duress during the Third Reich. For the heirs of those collectors, the discovery has raised hopes of recovering art, while the slow release of information has stirred frustration.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said earlier Monday that the government understood the demands of Jewish groups in particular that the pieces be quickly made public.

"We can well understand that especially Jewish organizations are asking many questions. They represent older people who were treated very badly," said the spokesman, Steffen Seibert.

The new task force of six experts will be put together by the German government and the state government of Bavaria, with the support of a research group on "degenerate art" at the Free University of Berlin.

Such art was largely modern or abstract works that Adolf Hitler's regime believed to be a corrupt influence on the German people. Many such works were later sold to enrich the Nazis. Some 380 art pieces could fall under the category, the government said.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle warned that Germany's reputation abroad would suffer if it didn't take a more proactive approach to publicly identifying the artworks in the Munich trove.

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